Is Social Enterprise applicable in academic institutions?

Posted on January 11, 2008 by sse

After my first full week with the SSE and in the
UK, I think I am starting to grasp the basics of both. It took me a while to
get used to the light switch, the traffic system and the British slang, but
it’s amazing how quickly one adapts to a new environment. In my first week here
at the office I’ve been trying to get a sense of the SE sector by poking around
on the web and working on different projects for the network team. At first I
was a bit overwhelmed by all the different companies, names, terms and slang,
but it’s starting to sink in gradually .

One of the things I’ve been working on is the Social Enterprise
Ambassadors programme
, led by SEC and assisted by a
consortium of different organisations, including of course, SSE. It’s been
very interesting to read about the very inspiring individuals that make
up the ambassadors group and I very much look forward to meeting them at a
training session towards the end of my stay in London.

Although the SE Ambassadors are amazing people, and have been chosen to promote the
movement, what’s been inspiring to me so far is my
encounters and interaction with the students and Fellows
of SSE. While social change was an abstract term to me at school, my meetings
with these people have shown me that change doesn’t occur in the abstract or (necessarily) on
the macro level, it happens in our local communities, mostly at a smaller scale.
My challenge in the months to come is to figure out a way to bridge such
practical solutions with an abstract learning model that will work for my college back in Minnesota. SSE programmes are very much about learning, rather
than teaching…and focused on the practical and personal, rather than the
academic and generic.

Since I’ve also learned that much of the conversation
about social change indeed occurs through blogging I
would love any input /responses to this question:

How can Social Enterprise/Innovation/Entrepreneurship be taught in an academic setting?

GenY: The future of Social Enterprise?

Posted on January 7, 2008 by sse

It seems that the job market is approaching a generational crossroads. Rosetta Thurman reports that the idealistic baby boomers that once started the non-profits that
blossom today are leaving their jobs to retirement. But who is going to replace
them? Generation Y perhaps? (The Internet generation, born roughly between 1976-2000).
They are young, ambitious, highly selective and are now gradually entering the
job market for the first time.

In China, at least 550 million people fit the profile,
almost double the entire U.S. population. In America however, Generation Y
number about 70 million, still a sizable group. Recent news reports from the
Iowa Caucuses indicate that these youngsters are a
force to recognize ,
virtually handing Barack Obama the momentum in the U.S. presidential race.
These echo boomers are techno sawy, they demand change, they are financially smart and they want
to make a difference from day one. At a glance it may seem that the growth of
social enterprises and entrepreneurship should explode any day now, and I
admit, the environment is ripe for harvest. It seems though that the harvesters
are sleeping and unless they act on the momentum the Gen Yers will shift their
attention somewhere else.

Idealism is no longer a word only associated with hippies
and environmentalists but rather a powerful influence on today’s youth.
However, idealism by itself normally does not survive the transition into adult
life unless it becomes real. It is kind of like believing in Santa Claus down at
the local mall; one day your bound to catch him during a smoke break in the
back alley. For many young people, idealism works the same way. You grow up and
realize that it was all a scam and that you cannot matter or make change in the
big picture.

In our day and age, secondary schooling normally work as
this wake-up call. For hours on end I learned about hunger and drought, the
AIDS epidemic, war and terror, ethnic strife, climate change and poverty. At
first I was determined to fix it all, until one day I gave up, thinking I
couldn’t do anything that would make a difference. In schools, students are
shown the big picture but never the solutions, which are almost always small
and local. Schools should of course continue to teach reality, but someone has
to show young people that there are solutions – and that’s where the third
sector comes in!

I am lucky to intern at SSE where I get to witness first-hand the many local solutions that exist. The
social sector has the potential to grow immensely now that GenY is growing up,
but only if it provides opportunities for idealism to continue to exist in today’s
brutal reality. The sector must reach out to GenY and show young idealists that
solutions are real, and many. The first step in this process should be to
transform idealism from an abstract term into tangible, visible and practical
examples. Luckily for us, idealism doesn’t take smoke breaks and doesn’t wear a
fake beard. The question remains however, how can the sector reach out to the younger generation, now ready to enter the job market?

Talk about a resolution…

Posted on January 2, 2008 by sse

Happy New Year readers / subscribers / social entrepreneurs. Hope you had a nice festive period: I was delighted to find that this blog had had its busiest traffic day in a long time while it was on leave; not sure what that says, but welcome to all newcomers.

It’s traditional, of course, to start the new year with a whole host of lists and resolutions, and the blogosphere is no different. You might want to start with the mighty Merlin Mann over at 43folders who has posts about Fresh Starts and Modest Changes and then read about 9 great tools to help you achieve your goals. Or, if you want to be real about the new year resolution shtick, how about 5 hard questions to ask before starting a new projec t, followed closely by choosing one of these Free Tools to Manage New Year’s Resolutions. Being S.M.A.R.T. about those resolutions is the key, apparently….

There will be those reclining, wishing to be told what to expect in the year ahead. Here, I might point you to Lucy Bernholz or McKinsey’s 8 Business (Technology) Trends to Watch. And for those still wanting food for thought, you might enjoy the EDGE’s annual question to the great thinkers of the world (this year: "What have you changed your mind about, and why?") and John Thackara’s reflection on approaches to sustainability.

A few other things to catch up with over the Xmas break:

– Tom Savage on how social enterprise doesn’t have a monopoly on doing good (and how it is difficult to invest in). I missed this last year, but is worth a read, if only to ponder how one reverses through a glass ceiling. More seriously, it does raise some interesting points, in relation to educational background, barriers to investment, and the need for greater "remuneration". Given that Al Harris is largely considered the driving force behind Blue Ventures, it will be interesting to note the progress of Tom’s Bright Green Talent recruitment agency….certainly seems to fill a niche at a good time.

– The government launched a new initiative called Spark (igniting social enterprise to prevent homelessness), which is:

"an innovative project developed by Communities
and Local Government, The TREES Group, Big Issue Invest (part of The
Big Issue group) and Eastside Consulting to build and inspire social
enterprise to prevent homelessness"

It will aim to scale up existing enterprises, support the growth of enterprises within existing organisations and encourage the sharing of skills and resources across sectors.

– A full list of third sector-ites on the new year’s day honours list to follow, but here’s some North-Eastern social entrepreneurs who made it on….

– Many SSE students and Fellows are driven by faith or spiritual beliefs of some kind. There’s a discussion about the relationship between spirituality and social entrepreneurship on Social Edge.

– And last, but by no means least, proof that SSE reaches beyond these shores….to the Sydney Morning Herald, no less: Calling all rebels: it’s your time

My resolution? Eat that frog.

Social entrepreneur and social innovation blogs

Posted on December 21, 2007 by sse

An organisation doing PR for a big event in our world asked me recently for a list of blogs related to this field / movement, as they were having trouble deciding who / what to contact. I put together a list of what I think the most influential / readable / interesting / relevant blogs are, and then thought that it was quite a useful list, so here it is, broken down with no real reasoning into US / UK / Other; there’s lots of other feeds I subscribe to, but tried to pick the most directly relevant blogs; please add any others in the comments:

US-based

– Social Edge: www.socialedge.org

– Social Enterprise Reporter: http://www.sereporter.com/seblog

– Stanford Social Innovation Review: http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/

– Social ROI: http://www.socialroi.com/

– Philanthropy 2173: http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/

– Xigi: http://www.xigi.net/

There’s a few others that are tangentially relevant
(Tactical Philanthropy etc) with a very good blogroll here: http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake/

UK-based

– me, obviously, here and on www.sse.org.uk

[I also blog at the www.GlobalIdeasBlog.com and at
Innovation Exchange: http://innovation-exchange.org/]

– Rob Greenland at Social Business http://thesocialbusiness.typepad.com/the_social_business/